THE CINNAMON CLUB

Last weekend we had the happy accident of getting invited to a special dining experience at the Cinnamon Club, as part of London Restaurant Festival. After the revelation of finally figuring out London (Big Ben is near Westminster – write that down) it was a beautiful day to pretend to be a tourist. Wander down the road past a big Abbey and tucked into Great Smith Street you’ll find a fine tribute to Indian food and to London. The elegant Cinnamon Club is at Old Westminster Library.

We have to depart from the norm a bit here, as it was a set menu that simply has to be shared, with pictures.

Starter: Lamb seekh kebab & cucumber mint soup

Entree: Cured salmon with green pea and mustard relish

Main: Pigeon and black lentil dahl

Dessert: Coconut rice pudding, fruit and sorbet

love you: Read that menu again. From the first mint soup moment, every mouthful was unbelievable. We would have filled up our bags with black lentil dahl, and the melon at the end was an island holiday in your mouth, I even tasted suncream and it tastes great. Service was lovely, discrete and polite, and the wine selection perfect. We also happened to be dining at the same time as the chefs, so we actually met our new personal heroes, Vivek Singh and French chef Eric Chavot.

leave you: The decor is old school British-India style, and thus slightly dated, but with their attention to detail you can’t help but wonder if it was intentional. The overall effect ends up being very comfortable and non-intimidating.

A big thank you to Priyanka Sharma @Cinnamon Club for inviting us to a lovely afternoon and making us feel truly treated! We’ll be back to explore the wine list further, and dreaming of dahl until then….